Power Pleas Collection Today

This brick now provides Michael's parents with a lasting memory of how Wolves made such a difference to their son’s short but happy life"

Today the 20th annual collection from Tettenhall Rotary Club supporting Wolverhampton wheelchair charity POWER PLEAS will take place before the game. Here is the final message of the week from the charity looking at the differences that have been made thanks to the generosity of Wolves’ supporters over the last two decades. Please give generously today if you can!

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Out there before the match today will be some 50 supporters of POWER PLEAS from the Rotary Club of Tettenhall and Wolverhampton Rhinos in addition to our own volunteers.

We have been given this huge privilege during the past twenty years by the Club that is an integral part of the culture and community life of Wolverhampton. The children who have benefited from these collections have had their lives changed and you have been given a glimpse of just a few through the Club website this week.

POWER PLEAS is immensely grateful for the partnership with Tettenhall Rotary Club cemented by Eric Johnson and supported by a succession of Presidents with Alan Russell being another constant.

It has been impossible to cover every aspect of the work of POWER PLEAS this week and notable exceptions have been the wheelchairs we have provided for the Powered Football Team Wolves Warriors, now based at Telford and reaching out to schools.

There are stories that have been shared and could not be included but perhaps one that illustrates our story should end this.

One of the Christmas presents his parents had brought him was a brick in the wall of the Molineux.

They had left the brick blank for Michael to choose his own inscription.

As Michael died before he was able to do this his parents decided they would like, ‘“Michael Davies father and son”’ on the brick as Michael was named after his dad so they were both Michaels and the Wolves was something they shared together. However, the inscription was one or two letters longer than allowed.

As the chosen inscription was very important to Michael’s parents they contacted Rachael Heyhoe-Flint whom Michael had met and worked with for promotion purposes for Power Pleas and who was aware of both Michael’s brick and his death.

They asked if she could possibly help to get the inscription they wanted. Rachael kindly spoke to the people who were responsible for the inscriptions who in turn kindly agreed to do this for them. This brick now provides Michael's parents with a lasting memory of how Power Pleas and the Wolves made such a difference to their son’s short but happy life. Michael was just 18 years of age when he passed away.

So thank you very much to the team off the pitch at Wolves. It has been a record season in many ways, and we now ask you to dig deep and make it a special one for POWER PLEAS as Pam Hodgson wrote at its formation...

When Health dictates how fast you goThe pace of life can be so slow

And it’s not much fun in a wheelchairWhen friends are running everywhere

When the pace of life is increased by powerThere seem more minutes to every hour

For hearts are light when wheels have wingsAnd you dare to do impossible things.

Pamela J. Hodgson, 1987, local poet and long-time supporter of POWER PLEAS.